Making It In The Big Time

By Allan Eastman

In Our Time

Pictured above is a small section of the Large Hadron Collider beneath the border of France and Switzerland.

So, it is only in our own modern times that we have discovered exactly where we, the Human race, stand in the grand scheme of things. How should this make us feel? Should we feel dwarfed by the immensity of the Universe and by the vast eons of Time that have led up to where we are now?

Quite the contrary, I think.

Before, Humans believed that they lived in an infinity of Space and an eternity of Time. We now see that there are definitive dates for the beginnings of things and if current science is as accurate as it seems to be, we are far closer to the beginning of the life of our Universe than the end. We Humans are very new arrivals on the scene and our civilization is still in its infancy. We are learning fast about the nature of our Universe and of our Planet and certainly, even more exciting answers to our questions lay close by in the future.

The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator, some 27 km in diameter lying under the Swiss-French border, is right now doing experiments that attempt to recreate the conditions immediately following the Big Bang. It is anticipated that some of our most basic questions in science could be explained by these studies. One can hope that major advances will come from these experiments that may explain Time or even allow for the possibility of space flight beyond the speed of light.

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By coming to understand the nature of the Universe, we become a real active part in it. Our star, Sol, is a comparatively young Sun in even the Milky Way Galaxy and we are way out in the suburbs, far from the galactic core and the Billions of stars clustered there which have been around far longer than ours. Astronomers think that there are Trillions of planets just in our galaxy alone and statistics would seem to indicate that many of them must have developed Life in some form. There should be civilizations relatively nearby that have been in existence for Millions of years.

We have only in the last 100 years begun to send our electronic transmissions into space. Sooner or later, we should get an answer - or a visit - from out there. And then, the evolution of the Human race can really move on beyond the narrow bounds of our small Planet and our short Time in existence.

We humans conceptualize Time like an arrow flying from the past into the future. We have already unlocked many of the secrets of our past. We now know where we came from. The unknowable future lies out ahead of us but it is a future filled with immense promise.

To be sure, we face many terrible problems here in our own present – war, pollution, diminishing resources. But we face these problems with an understanding of what can become the legacy for ourselves and our children’s future generations. In my own opinion, the next major step we must take is to break out of the parochial bonds which history has placed us in.

We need to look beyond our nation states and our local concerns and see ourselves as what we really are – one family of beings inhabiting one planet in one galaxy amid the awesome abundance of the Universe. That’s when we take the next giant step in our progression as a species.

We are stardust as well as the inheritors of all the Life of the Planet that has led us into the Here and Now. The future is ours for the taking.

Call it science fiction if you want but Humans on the Moon and personal computers were science fiction too, not so very long ago.

Exciting Times, indeed...

Comments

Gordon Rempel

Bravo

Submitted 2010-07-16 17:12:47

Marc White!

Thank you Allan for using very positive and beautiful imagery to introduce this
article, which made it a real pleasure to read. I don't know whether you did
this in response to my earlier criticism about using gory guillotine images to
introduce a previous article, which turned me right off reading the rest of it,
but if you did, then I applaud you for digesting and implementing my suggestion
to write positively. One critcism this time around, is that your current article
is very long, and it consumed more of my valuable time reading it than I really
wanted to allocate. I have actually totally ignored some of your previous
articles due to extreme busyness, and I am sure many of your potential readers
are in the same situation. Personally, I would be far more inclined to read your
future articles if they were a lot more succinct. Don't get me wrong, this is a
beautiful and inspiring article, but I just don't think the length is
appropriate for a newsletter. Please keep up the positive introductory comments
in your column. You have a real knack for writing Allan. Warm regards, Marc
White! aka "The Inspirer"

Submitted 2010-07-16 18:32:27

Michelle

It's a good thing we humans are still stuck in the suburbs of the universe:
imagine the damage we might inflict if we were the center -- both geographically
and philosophically -- like so many still believe.

Submitted 2010-07-16 19:27:44

Amir

Beautifully written. Thanks for taking me there, humbling and inspiring at the
same time.

Submitted 2010-07-17 16:57:40

kenneth allan eastman

hi great uncle i will enjoy reading your articles you should write a segment on
our ICELANDIC heritage about the village of riverton manitoba.Many of your
fellow Icelanders are very proud of what you have accomplished.I know your famly
esp.Dori Sr.your father feel the same way.Any way best of good forturn in
whatever future endevers you may tackle.May the wind always blow on your back
and fill your sails.Vikings forever. In memory of my father Halldor Dori
Eastman Sept.1927 March 2004

Submitted 2010-07-20 18:44:35

Mike Fox

@kenneth allan eastman

Hi Kenneth, I am Allan Eastman's proud Nephew in Canada, and big fan of his
writing. This series of articles is near and dear to my heart as I have had a
fascination with the concept of time for many years.

I apologize for using this forum for communicating but I am building a family
tree and do not know anything of your side of the family and would like to hear
from you. In the interest of "TIME" that Allan writes about, please feel free to
email me at vulpine@efirehose.net so that i can collect some family details.

Mike

Submitted 2010-08-22 19:26:18

Barbara Bazuniuk Chatelain

I'm so glad you like writing as I. WE ARE OUR SUE EASTMAN"S CHILDREN!
Is this your opinion or are you teaching a fact?
My comment is there's nothing new under the sun 'Eclesiastes' (from the
Bible). People are forever trying to be God, create like God and understand God
inspired things that are too mighty for them. I mean - with our human
shortcomings can we really believe what someone finds as the whole truth? even
if they have studied their whole life?
If a person just asks God to reveal the truth, reveal Himself, and who created
the universe and you get an answer from the creator Himself like I did -honestly
those mighty things we wonder about won't matter.
You sound like a good scientist and are a good writer. I think God in His Holy
Sprit is the most majestic awesome scientist! TTFN.b thx for sharing!